poppers floating with bobbers?

[bgreen82]

i just read something that said a good way to catch panfish when you can see them coming to the surface to eat insects is to put a popper under a bobber and let it float on the surface as well. whats the trick and what kind should be used?

[delmuts]

you can use almost any type of floating fly or small [PoorWordUsage]er. if you will be using a spinning rig, you can use a small flaot and a split shot at the base of it,( these are for casting weight ) but some times the fish will hit the float instead. they make what's called a casting bubble. this is a hollow float that you can put water in ( to adjust the weight) that are a little slimmer, and work well.

[Matt Johnson]

Ahh yes, "Poppin' for Pannies!"

Here's a post I put up in June of 2004...

Panfish are often times an aggressive fish, and when approaching aggressive fish you have more options on how to catch them, and thats because they are willing to bite more presentations. Sure, a worm and a bobber will catch you panfish, so will a jig and plastic, but have you ever tried poppers? You might have seen fish feeding on the surface in the past, feeding on things such as mayflies, bugs, and other insects. This is the time for poppin' for pannies!

You find these schools of surface feeding panfish amongst weed beds, just off the weed line, in shallow bays, all over the lake. This panfish are eager to strike anything that is squirming on the surface, and they will strike with a splash. You can use your normal panfish equipment to pop for pannies, a fly rod will work very well too. But there are a few minor adjustments needed to get these lightweight poppers in the strike zone.

Since the popper only weighs a fraction of a fraction of an ounce, you can't cast them too far, you really can't cast them at all with your spinning gear, but by adding a small bobber about 2 feet above the popper you not only have a further cast, but a no-lie strike indicator. I bet you are wondering why you need a strike indicator, I mean isn't the splash enough? Nope, these panfish can be so aggressive that they will sometimes miss when attempting to inhale the popper, causing the fisherman to set the hook only to find the popper and bobber flying back towards boat or shoreline at high speed. Another reason is that the panfish might only momentarily grab hold of the popper, only to release is shortly after. The reason why the bobber acts as a strike indicator is that after a panfish makes a successful strike on the popper, it will cause there to be tension between the popper and bobber, and this will cause the bobber to either stand up or move indicating that the panfish has the bait. See, because the popper floats, and there is no weight below the bobber, the bobber will stay on its side, while the popper floats helplessly behind it. Just add some twitches and small jerks and be ready for the splash.

I like to use light line, no heavier than 4 pound test, rigged on a 6 foot ultralight spinning rod when popper fishing. I like to work a twitch/pause retrieve, and most of the strikes will come on the pause part of the sequence. Be ready to chase the school of panfish, they will sometimes move as you approach them and pull up a few fish, so just pay attention to the small surface eruptions and you'll stay hot on their tail!

"Poppin' for Pannies" is probably one of my favorite ways to target panfish. It keeps you on your toes and adds a whole new dimension to top-water action... and for panfish!

Great for both crappies and giils, but it's the gills that really grab my attention. Look for them around thick weeds in the evening, right where the weed edge is, or around pockets.

A great way to spend an evening!

[SteveWilson]

Or use a fly rod

[Tyler Holm]

Popper fishing can be a blast. I've found the best time to try this is right before dark when the sky is clear and the water is super calm. Warm/hot also helps (more insect hatching). For the last hour+ or so before sundown, you'll see fish sucking all kinds of insects off the surface.

You might try this approach for trout as well, and don't be surprised when a bass, carp, or other fish grabs ahold of your popper!

[V-12 Merlin]

Last night I was fishing for sunnies with a bobber and jig with a Powerbait tube for bait. The wind was still as the sun started going down and I was only getting a few nibbles. As I started to reel the line back a foot or so, I felt a serious tug on my line - looked at the bobber, and it wasn't "bobbing".... the fish were trying to eat my line!

I thought I was imagining it, but that happened multiple times. Of course, I didn't have any poppers with me to tie under by bobber. There was a little surface activity, but not enough to make me think to bring any along.

Oh, I almost forgot.... I was using Vanish line....

[delmuts]

you will get that quite often when the fish are feeding neat/or on the surface! i almost landed a very nice crappie this spring as he was holding onto the float! some times fishing a jig just 6 " below the float/bobber will work to!

[Down to Earth]

A few years ago I believe, on an In Fisherman show I saw, they used a similar technique, however, instead of using a bobber as the weight they used a small rapala with the hooks removed in the rapala obviously.

[Coach1310]

I saw the same show. I have used this technique in lily pads and have found it to be somewhat effective. The cool thing is when a bass or pike hits the rapala!!

[Cyberfish]

I have got some monster gills twichin a small floating rap.

[bgreen82]

finally popped for sunfish last night between showers on a lake that has way to many weeds and algae to do much else from shore. put two larger split shot below the bobber(for extra casting distance) with a popper much like the one that matt has pictured above. only caught two smaller sunnies in about an hour, but it was fun to see the action of the fish coming to the surface for it.

[ocf]

ive had sunnies attack my floating rapala when im doing something else and its just sitting there

[Ron Burgundy]

I've caught lots of sunnies on Lake Winona twitching a small floating rap.

[Huskiedevle]

Ah, those were the days of the past when I used an adjust-a-bubble float,and a popper(balsa) for fun bluegill action.What a kick watching the fish hit the float as much as the lure. Nice fish were caught on this rig- not just too many dinks, and no bigger ones.Fun way to fish 'gills.